Old Wounds
by Reptile Volkin
Summary: Taking place nine years after Cosmo's death. Tails sits on a beach, contemplating the fact that his life feels empty without Cosmo. When Cream shows up, events unfold that show Tails that he can move on and not complteley forget Cosmo. Oneshot.


This is my story. Can be found on Deviantart under the account of FailsTFox. He is also me. Just letting those who may have seen the story before know before they rush off to tell on what they suspect to be a copier. Also, this story is old. I've reread it and fixed some mistakes, but I'm sure I missed quite a bit. I'd appreciate if someone told me so I can go back and fix them. Thank you.

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**Old Wounds**

It was dawn and the clouds were feebly blocking the sky's gorgous red sun. The salt smell of the beach seemed to be dulled, the normal crowded shore deserted of any signs of life as the tide rushed in and out, washing away anything that might have been in the sand. The orange glow of the sand, a mirage of the dawn, was only obstructed by only one figure who sat far from the waters.

The yellow fured fox known as Miles Prower, Tails to his frineds, had sat at this spot every morning since the death of his beloved Cosmo. He wore his school unifrom, which consisted of khakki-green pants, a light green t-shirt, and gold-rimmed glasses, which made him look something like a leprecaun. The only things that were missing were the hat, the dark-green jacket, and the four-leaf clover. However, his attitude couldn't contradict that image more. He felt somewhat depressed and lost.

Always lost.

It was odd. Before Tails met Cosmo, he had always felt as if he knew where he was headed in life, had felt sure that he knew everything he had wanted to do. Then he had fallen in love with her, and his whole world shifted under him for the better. It pointed in a direction that lead to general hapiness and fullfillment of life. Much less ambitious than the path he had originally saw, but more self rewarding than the other path. That was before Cosmo died, and Tails suddenly found that his world didn't have a path or even a general sense of direction anymore.

Tails felt that he was alive in a colorless world where everything was doomed to fade to gray, no matter how great it had seemed before. It was like a dream that would never come true, or a day that could not exist. Often, he built up a wall of anger to combat these feelings. Cosmo was dead because of the Metarex! Thanks to those heartless creatures, Tails would never be able to take Cosmo out on a date, or to the park, or to his house, or down the aisle in holy matromony, or back home after a long day of shopping to their kids...

The wall of anger never worked, though, for it always succumbed to the power of the grief that Tails felt when he thought of all those things.

Tails was now seventeen. Those old wounds still felt fresh, and he still allowed a tear to drop down his cheek whenever he thought about what had happened and all the oportunities with Cosmo that had been robbed from him. This beach was his haven. It was the only spot where he could sit down and admit that he missed her beyond anything he had ever lost before. His heart ached still to be with her, but not as much as it had those nine years ago.

Nine years!

Tails shuddered everytime he thought of that. Perhaps he should have moved on long ago, but he couldn't look into another girl's eyes. When he did, Cosmo's final image would assault him, and an extreme feeling of guilt would wash over him like a tsunami. In all his past experiances, not one girl he was interested in dodged this category. The tide continued to wash back and forth as Tails finally managed to get Cosmo off his mind by reminding himself of all the school-work he still had to do.

It wasn't that Tails was lazy, he just rathered working on the Tornado more than doing homework that he already knew all the answers too. The only reason he was on the same grade level as anyone else was because he didn't like the idea of being out of high-school and looking for a collage at the age of twelve. If he wanted, he could go to the board of education and ask them to move him out of the classes now. However, Tails refused to do this for the sake of leading a normal life.

So he lead a normal life, which was pure shit to him due to the fact that he didn't have Cosmo to share that life with.

As he finished the first of three worksheets he had to complete, he heard something behind him. The dawn was now fully above the waters, reflecting brilliant red sunlight of the early-morning and giving everything that "wake the hell up or you'll be late for school" feeling. The light shined into his eye for a moment, causing him to see spots and have to squint as he turned his head to see who the tresspasser upon his haven was.

Normally, he would have been mad. It was right before school started, everyone should have been in a scramble to get there, not stop by the beach to bother the necrophiliac! That word always hurt Tails, and he head the other students call him that everyday. Was it so wrong to hold on to the memory of the one he loved?

His anger melted away when he noticed that it was a familiar face. It was a rabbit with an orange, down-turned puff on her head, matching the circles around her eyes. She, too, wore glasses, silver rimmed to go against Tails' gold rims. Her brown eyes seemed to survey him carefully, her ears falling back to the mid-section of her back like long hair, a black band holding the two together to give it an almost pony-tail look. She also wore a light green t-shirt, but her pants were a dark green, which somewhat contradicted Tails' own light khakki green pants. A small puff of a tail was visible on her backside. The fifteen year old rabbit was known as Cream, her pet chao had passed away a long time ago.

Tails knew Cream wasn't there to tease him. On the contrary, the rabbit was probably there to try to help cheer him up. This was the last thing Tails wanted at that moment. He quickly scooped all his papers into his booksack and was going to stand up, but changed his mind. He was sleepy, and this sitting position relaxed him greatly. The last thing he wanted to do right now was to move from that spot in the sand, even though he knew he would have to do so to get to school. So, instead of getting up, Tails stared out into the ocean and watched the waves come and go.

Cream strolled up next to him, and looked at his droopy eyes for a minute before sitting by him at a comfortable distance, doing the same thing he was. The waves continued to come back and forth for what seemed like a short time to Tails. He decided to risk a look at his watch. The time then was only six thirty, so the two mobians had a full thirty minutes to just sit there and enjoy the veiw.

Not that Tails enjoyed it, due to being too sleepy. Damn that stripped bolt!

The silence wasn't short-lived, but it still seemed as if Cream had just sat down when she opened her mouth to speak to him. "I notice you come down here a lot," she said, drawing a slightly flabbergasted look from Tails. She noticed it immediatly and added, "No, I don't spy on you. It's just...you always arrive at school so late even though you leave so early. I just assumed this is always where you dissapear to."

Tails nodded, the motion causing his neck to crack slightly. He remained silent, not being very talkative to begin with. It's not like he had to say much, anyway. If anyone knew him and what he needed, it was Cream. Of course, this was the reason he was confused. She probably knew that he wanted to be alone right now, but was directly going against his wishes for some reason that was beyond Tails' mental comprehension.

"What are you thinking, Tails?" Cream asked out of the blue, turning to look at him, and snapping the two-tailed kitsune out of his sleep deprivision induced stupor.

Tails gave her an agrivated look, which was usually the look he gave before he opened his mouth, and said, "You know the answer already."

That was true, but still, she needed to hear him say it. "No I don't," she lied, doing her best to sound convincing and innocent.

Tails simply turned back to look at the sea. He didn't want to answer her, because he knew that if he did, he might actually start to cry. He hated how weak he was emotionally, especially when it came to this subject.

Cream, however, was not about to give up so easily. She scooted closer, draging a little sand along with her, until she was sitting right next to the suddenly nervous two-tailed fox. "Come on, Tails," she said, sounding sincere and caring, "I want to know why you come here every morning before school. You can tell me. I'll keep it a secret, I swear."

Tails knew she would keep it a secret, but why she suddenly cared eluded him. Of course, the mere fact that she always seemed to be around when he was feeling bad to help him recover his good spirits implied that she did always care about his well being...but why did she come here? He obviously wanted to be alone, and there was nothing wrong with wanting a little private time. She _had_ to know what he was thinking about, or else she wouldn't have come.

Tails remained silent to her question, giving her a cold glare that greatly expressed that he was not enjoying this conversation at all. Rather than risking asking again and having him walk away, she went for the direct aproach, asking bluntly, "Thinking about Cosmo?"

The question hit Tails harder than any punch could have. He didn't want to answer her. To tell the truth, Tails wanted to hate her for it. How dare she ask such a thing outloud!? The incident had been nine years ago! How could she think that he was mentally incapable of moving on without Cosmo!?

The answer to his question was simple. It was the truth. He couldn't hate her for simply stating the truth with a question that he asked himself everytime he came to this beach. Thinking about Cosmo? Why? The answer to those questions: he loved her and wished she were here to watch the waves with him.

However, those questions were only shadows of the two questions that really upset the fox: Why did Cosmo have to die, and why was he unable to move on now that she was dead? Neither of these had a reasonable answer, though he knew part of why he was unable to move on was because he saw Cosmo in every girl he ever felt slightly attracted to.

He didn't have to answer her question. His eyes became moist with tears when he thought about it, thus confirming Cream's suspicions. She hated to see Tails upset, but she knew that if she didn't at least try to help him, he'd be coming here for the rest of his life. He needed to move on. No matter how much he wished it, coming to this spot would never bring her back. Cream got up and walked behind Tails, kneeling down and hugging him in a position that rested her chin on his head.

Tails didn't know how to react. He was shocked but touched at the same time. It felt nice to have someone who cared enough to hug him over an issue so old that she probably thought it to be dead and buried. Hell, it felt incredible to have someone who knew that the issue _wasn't_ dead and buried like everyone else beleived. Cream was probably the only person who knew that he still thought about Cosmo, considering he did his best to keep that issue a secret. He couldn't hold back the tears anymore, and they ran down his face.

Cream didn't have to look to tell he was crying. Words eluded her. She wanted to somehow take all his pain away and carry it herself. She really didn't want him to be this miserable. All she could say was, "It'll be alright, Tails. I promise that it'll be alright."

Tails sniffed, and made himself stop crying. What did Cream know about this? She had never lost someone this important to her! Still...he felt comforted by her words. He had been told that a million times, but it was only now that he realized that they were right. He would be alright. Infact, now he felt as if everything's resolve had turned for the better.

He also felt his face heat up a small bit, and his heart rate grow faster despite his calmness. He fixed his glasses back upon his nose and thought about the many times Cream had helped him through his problems in life. He had never thought about it before, but he found Cream to be quite attractive. They were such good friends after Cosmo's death, but the fact that she practically seemed like family to the fox made him scorn himself whenever he thought of her in that light. However, Cream wasn't related to him at all and was always there for him when he needed someone.

Infact, now that he thought of it, everytime he looked into her eyes, he didn't see Cosmo. All he saw were two brown orbs that were filled with a warmth and caring for him that it made Tails a little ashamed of how he had only been thinking about _his _time with Cosmo that had been taken. In reality, Cosmo had been robbed the oportunity to spend time with all his friends, not just Tails himself.

Cream stayed hugging him for a while, her chin resting on his head. She was on her knees in the sand, using Tails' bent form to support herself, her ears flopping across his shoulder. Tails never really did like that she kept it in a band. Still, he never told her that. Rather, he came to accept the change.

Finally, she asked him, "You okay, Tails?"

Tails nodded, and said with a warm smile on his face, "Yeah. I'm alright."

"That's good," she said, a smile finding it's way upon her face as well, "I don't like to see you miserable like you were when I first got here. It makes me hurt to see you hurt, Tails."

Tails felt his cheeks get warmer, and was sure he had just blushed a slight pink. He was rather shocked at how fast he could go from mourning Cosmo's demise to enjoying Cream's company. Actually, now that he thought about it, he had always enjoyed her companionship. Tails didn't admit it before because he'd always think of Cosmo, but now that he was more aware how foolish it was to hang on to her after her demise, he could admit it freely. If he chose to...

"Thanks, Cream," Tails said, still staring at the sea. He felt better than he ever had before, and could swear he saw everything brighten a little like his very outlook on life.

"Of course, Tails," she said. They both looked out to the ocean, enjoying the sight of the dawn still shinning off the waters. Then Tails felt Cream stiffen and raise her chin off his head suddenly. She asked urgently, "Tails, what time is it!?"

Tails looked at his watch, suddenly aware of why she was so worried. They weren't late, but they had so little time to get there that it's be a miracle if they made it on time. They both scrambled out of the sand, cursing under their breath the fact that they had taken out their books to look over their work. Finally, they looked at each other.

Cream turned to leave, but Tails said, "Cream, hang on a second!"

"What Tails!? We don't have much-!" she began, but was interupted when he grabbed her shoulders, and kissed her cheek. She turned such a bright red that Santa could have mistook her for Ruldolf.

"Thank you. For everything," he said, then ran off in the direction of the school, his two tails acting as a propeller and helping him go faster.

Cream waited until he was too far to hear, more from the numbness of shock than anything else. Finally, she said under her breath, "I love you, Tails," before taking off after him. They had a long day of school to get through together, and, as usual, math was a-!


End file.
